Trouble
by Danmaku Grazer
Summary: Harlan and Shelly decide to go out on a date. What kind of trouble is in store for them? Written with Kaida Kaguya. CommanderShipping...please R&R.


**Notes: **This was written by L Lawliet's-san and Kaida Kaguya-san.

**Disclaimer: **We don't own Pokemon.

Kaida: I wish I did. But then little kids wouldn't be able to watch it. Too much blood. And violence. And ninjas. Don't forget ninjas.

Today was the day. The day Harlan was waiting for a long time. He was going to finally ask her. The problem was he couldn't but feel a bit nervous.

'I must get a hold of myself! Shelly's the business-type, so I have to impress her. What will I say? Hmm. . . How about, "You're so pretty." Nah. Too childish. "I got lost in your eyes. Can you draw me a map?"'

'I have to pull my act together,' Harlan thought, taking a deep breath.

I've been getting calls all day. What a pain. Shelly answered the phone yet again. "Hello? No, I don't want your chocolate. . ." She cursed silently to herself. "You people just shut up and stop calling!" She angrily hang up the phone. The loud "bam" seemed to ring in her ears.

Harlan picked up the phone with shaking hands. He was surprised he actually managed to dial the right number with his trembling fingers. Now all he had to do was wait for the other line to pick up.

The red head had a strange feeling it wasn't one of those annoying little girls that wanted to sell her chocolate, or one of those 'You've won a million dollars!' idiots. She reached once again for the phone and answered, trying to keep calm in case it was one of them "Hello?"

He heard the phone pick up, and heard her voice.

"H-hello, Shelly," Harlan greeted.

Shelly laughed silently to herself before replying. "Hello, Field Commander Harlan. I was just thinking about you."

"Really!?" Harlan said, surprised. He still felt a bit nervous but not as much as he did a few seconds ago.

She laughed so he could hear her this time. "Yes, I was. Isn't it funny how that works?" 'He's annoying me, just a bit. I don't mind him calling me, but what would he want'

Harlan heard her sweet laugh. He couldn't help but smile. "I called you for a reason," Harlan stated, he took a deep breath and continued, "Would you like to go out with me?" he asked, fearing she would reject.

"Hmm. . ." The Aqua admin thought for a moment. "I would love too, Harlan." She laughed once more. I always knew that guy would do that one day.

Harlan felt like leaping for joy; that's how happy he was.

"Where do you wanna go Shelly?" Harlan asked, "I was thinking the beach or something..." he suggested.

"All right. . . I go with you to the beach. You win." Shelly turned her head and heard her boss's footsteps coming towards her office. "Harlan, I have to go," she whispered. "I'll see you tonight. . . at what time?" He was getting closer.

"7:00, if that's okay with you," Harlan said.

"Yeah. . . Sorry, I have to go, my boss is coming. It was nice talking to you. See you later." She hung up quickly as her boss entered her room.

Harlan hung up the phone. He then left the room to go get ready, even though he wouldn't see Shelly for a few hours.

'All right, I'm here.' Shelly was instantly calmed down by the sound of the waves. "It's nice out. I miss this feeling. I feel like diving in the water right now. . ."

Harlan saw Shelly waiting for him. "She's already here," he thought to himself. He went to go greet her.

"Hello, Harlan." Shelly walked over to her date and grabbed his hand. "I'm glad you chose here."

Harlan could feel his face turn hot. "Yeah, I'm glad too," he replied smiling.

"Forgive me if I sounded a bit angry on the phone. People have been calling us all day." She paused and put a hand on his shoulder. "They either want us to buy their girl scout cookies or they lie and say I won a million dollars." Laughing again, she closed her eyes.

"Yeah, I've had a few of those annoying phone calls," He replied. "The beach sure is nice, at this time," he said; smiling.

"H-Harlan?" the admin asked nervously; looking into the male's eyes. "Are you. . . nervous?"

Harlan's face was probably as red as his Magma uniform. "N-nervous," he admitted, " Just a little bit."

Shelly laughed to herself for about the twentieth time today. After getting Harlan's call, she was so happy, and just couldn't stop laughing to herself. "So, what do you want to do? I didn't come here just to stand here, you know."

"We can do whatever you feel like," Harlan replied. He was glad that Shelly seemed to be a good mood today. "Like a nice stroll on the beach or maybe swimming."

"Swimming?" She was uncomfortable with him since he was in Team Magma and she was in Team Aqua. Wouldn't it seem odd if they were swimming together? "How about a quiet stroll?"

"Sounds good," He replied, grabbing her hand.

Feeling the warmth of his hand, she thought for a moment, then pulled back. "Sorry. . . I just get so. . ."

"Don't worry I understand," he said quickly.

"Thank you." The woman slowly got closer to him; laughing at something she had just remembered. 'Just imagine the clueless expression my boss will have on his face. When I get back, he'll think I snuck out and didn't do my paperwork, but I actually finished it. And I never finish my paperwork.'

Two dark figures crawled behind a rock, hoping they wouldn't be seen. The bigger one was trying to calm down the other. "Stop laughing," he whispered. "It isn't funny. I told you to keep your admin away from mine, not let yours take her on a date!"

"Heh, sorry" The red head couldn't help but laugh. He found it really amusing and sort of ironic that his admin was dating the opposing team's admin.

"Oy!" The man poked his head up to watch his admin lean up against his rival's admin. "Hey, Maxie! Look at this!'

After finally getting a hold of himself, Maxie poked his head up also. "What should we do?"

"I don't know! You're the genius!" The man, after five minutes, realized his mistake. "I mean. . ."

"The genius, you say." Maxie couldn't help but smirk.

"Aw, shut up. What are we suppose to do? I'm Archie, the Leader of Team Aqua, not a love genius!" Archie said angrily.

Seeing his rival's annoyance made him laugh quietly to himself. Maxie had to think of a plan, and quick. After thinking for a few minutes he had a few idea's. "We could just leave them be and fire them later, or we could take a strong course of action now."

"Which would be more fun. . . I think we'll take action now!" He laughed evilly, but in the middle of his horrible laugh, he coughed.

"So how will we do this?" The clueless Magma leader asked. He grabbed a stick off the ground and started drawing diagrams on the sand.

"Hmmm. . ."

While the two bosses were scheming, Shelly was still leaning against Harlan. "What do you want to do now? It's only been about. . ." She looked at her wrist, but she had forgotten her watch.

"About half an hour," Harlan finished her sentence. "Want to get ice cream?" he asked noticing a small ice cream cart, "It'll be my treat."

"No, Harlan. You really don't have. . ." she trailed off as she saw the look he was giving her. "I give in. It's your treat. But, I can get a bit carried away. . ." The admin laughed to herself.

He smiled after hearing her response. "Alright then lets head over there."

"All right then. . ." She ran over, dragging him with her. "My friend and I want some ice cream. . ." She looked down at Harlan. "Yeah. Some ice cream."

Harlan laughed to himself, because he didn't feel nervous anymore. He payed for the ice cream.

"Thanks, Harlan," Shelly said happily, grabbing onto his arm while licking her ice cream slowly. "It's delicious!"

"Your welcome," Harlan replied with a smile. He started licking his ice cream "I agree; it is really good."

Meanwhile, back at the rock where those two idiots -- ahem, "masterminds" are plotting. . .

"Maxie, that's genius! I could never think of that!" Archie realized he had made yet another mistake and corrected himself. "Of course, I would think of better!"

Maxie examined his poorly drawn diagrams. "Alright this is what we'll do, first we'll fire some sort of smoke device to catch them off guard, then we'll kidnap our own admins and give them a stern talking to."

"Right. . ." The man nodded in agreement. "Where do we get the smoke thing? And how do we kidnap them?"

Maxie pulled something out of his pocket. It was hand gun of some sort.

"This smoke gun will work," he explained. Maxie continued to explain. "And how we should kidnap them, you can call your other admins to get the girl, I'll call some of my strongest grunts over to grab Harlan."

A small smile formed on the Team Aqua leader's face. "Excuse me? 'The girl?' You don't know my admin's name, do you?" He pulled out a small cell phone and pressed one of the buttons; his large finger barely almost touching the one to the right of it. He obviously had his admins on speed dial.

"Heh, I never try to remember my rivals name." Maxie smirked.

Archie let out a deep sigh. "Well, what's your admin's name again?" he asked, pointing to the man leaning up against his admin. "Tegucigulpa?"

'Tegucigulpa? That doesn't even sound like his name...' Maxie chuckled to himself. "His name is Harlan."

Someone answered the other line. "I need the admins here. Now. No, no. You'll see when you get here." The man hung up and turned towards the other. "Harlan? What the heck kind of name is that?"

Maxie chuckled again. "I don't know, I wasn't the one who named him."

"Well, my men are coming. And yours? I haven't seen you call them, yet."

"Oh, right." Maxie pulled out his cell phone, he quickly dialed some numbers. "Courtney, call the strongest grunts over here. No we don't need any nukes. Alright then." He hung up.

Back at where the two "lovebirds" were, Shelly was still leaning up against her date. "Do you think. . . we're being watched?"

"Watched?" Harlan thought for a second. "Yeah...a little bit."

"But, when I'm with you. . . I feel protected."

Harlan blushed a lot. "I'm really glad you feel that way." He smiled.

The woman laughed to herself. "You are a bit overprotective, however. Especially when your boss is around."

Harlan nodded. "My boss is an idiot. Lets just say he is one of those people who thinks that you can get rid of your problems by burning them or something like that..."

She laughed again. "Burn? Sounds just like that jerk. Look at my idiot boss. He wants to drown us all. I wonder why I joined?" She put a finger to her lip and looked up at the sky; pretending to be thinking.

Harlan looked up at the sky. "Wow there sure are a lot of stars."

"Really? I. . . didn't even notice." The young admin looked around at the world above her; wondering. "It's. . . beautiful."

"I agree." Harlan gazed upon the skies beauty, "But not as beautiful as you."

The woman blushed madly and looked into the other admin's eyes. "Oh, please. . . That isn't true. . ." She heard the sound of helicopters and let out a 'hmpf' of annoyance.

The Magma admin sighed. "Don't tell me that they actually..."

"Oh, no. My boss. The insane things he does. . . Cover your nose and eyes!" She closed her eyes and covered her mouth and nose after seeing what the admins and grunts all had in their hands.

Harlan did what he was told. "My boss must be here too," He noted after seeing the red uniforms. He wondered to himself, "Are those smoke guns?"

"Harlan!" Shelly screamed. She could no longer see him or feel him. She felt as if she were in the middle of a frightening nightmare. 'What is this?'

Harlan heard the young woman's scream. He started frantically searching around, even though it was very difficult due to the smoke. "Shelly!" he called out.

Her world was spinning; going pitch black. "Harlan. . ." she said weakly, trying to fight the smoke. "Help me. . ."

"Where is she?" He felt frustrated and confused. "If it wasn't for this smoke I'd be able to find her quicker." He felt a pair of hands seize him.

"Harlan!" Shelly screamed again. She was pulled away by someone else. "Har. . ." She hung her head weakly and realized that she was defeated.

Harlan's head perked up after hearing Shelly's scream again. He struggled against whoever had seized him and eventually got released. He ran as fast as he could. "Shelly!" He yelled frantically, "Shelly!"

She heard his cries. "Harlan. . ." Her voice was hoarse. "Har. . ." Coughing, she looked up at the person who had seized her, but couldn't make the face out. "Leave. . . me. . ." Her world went completely black.

Harlan heard a small voice. "Yes I must be close!" He saw a dark figure through the smoke. Without thinking, the Magma admin took immediate action and ran up to the figure. The smoke was still thick but was clearing up slowly.

"Oh, it's you." The Aqua leader stood before him. "What was your name? Tegucigulpa?"

"Its Harlan," The Magma admin said annoyed. He noticed that the Aqua leader held Shelly.

Archie smirked. "Whoops. Sorry about that. . . and this!" He hit him in the back of the head with his hand. "Your leader wanted you, so I guess I'll bring him to you. I owe him." He grabbed him by the hood and dragged him over to Maxie.

Maxie noticed Archie heading towards him. "Thanks..." Maxie muttered. The Magma leader inspected the young admin who was currently knocked out. "Did you have to hit him that hard?"

"Oh, he's knocked out?" The leader didn't even notice. "Well, Shelly always hit the people who annoyed her in the same spot I hit him. She knocked them out, but she hits them hard." He pointed to the spot just above the back of the neck.

The Magma leader rolled his eyes. "Well I guess we depart now since we each have what we want."

Archie looked down at his admin. "Yeah. Thanks for helping, genius," he said sarcastically. "You're an artist."

Maxie smirked. "Farewell." He dragged Harlan into one of the helicopters.

"Farewell."

"What were you thinking?!" The Magma leader yelled angrily at his admin.

Harlan flinched. "Sir. . . I. . . I just wanted to take her out for a while. I thought I would be nice to her. I'm sure she's sick of staying in that base all day long."

Maxie continued to scold, "You still shouldn't be associating with the enemy!"

He blushed. "I. . . I. . ." He couldn't think of what to say next. Something finally came to him. "I didn't know what I was doing. Archie tricked me into doing it. . . Yeah." 'Like he'll buy that.'

Maxie raised a eyebrow. "What do you mean Archie tricked you?"

"He. . . um. . ." He scratched the back of his head. "Captured me and bribed me."

Maxie chuckled a bit. "What type of bribe?"

"Um. . . A money bribe." 'Sounds reasonable.' "He wanted to give me half of Team Aqua's money, so I gave in. You know, so I could help out Team Magma."

The Magma leader thought for a few minutes. "So you believed him?"

"Yes, sir."

"Alright then." Maxie got up, "Your case is dismissed for now."

"Thank you, sir." He bowed respectfully and walked out; glad that his boss hadn't figured out he was lying.

The Aqua leader was stressed. "Explain," he said calmly to his admin.

Shelly, still feeling weak from passing out earlier, tried to explain. "I. . . He called me and asked me out." 'Harlan is going to be ticked off at me, but I can't lie to my boss.' "I agreed to meet him at the beach at seven o'clock. I don't really remember what happened after that. My head is still spinning."

"Why did you agree though?" Archie asked. "After all, Team Magma are our rivals."

Her face and ears turned completely red; her eyes widening. "I. . ."

"You?" Archie smirked, "Well go on..."

"Nothing, sir."

Archie took a deep sigh. "Your dismissed for now; I'll think of consequences later."

"Yes, sir. . ." she muttered. After bowing, she left her boss's office. 'Consequences? I wonder what they are. . .'

Harlan picked up the phone and dialed the Aqua's admin's number. He had to apologize for what happened.

The phone rang once again. Even though she was tired, Shelly picked up the phone and answered. "Team Aqua Base. . . This is Shelly speaking. . ."

"Hi; it's me Harlan," he said quietly. "I'm really sorry for what happened."

"It isn't your fault." She sniffed as if she were crying before. "It's Archie and Maxie's."

"I can't help but feel that I caused all this though..." Harlan said.

The admin raised her voice. "Harlan, I don't even see how this is your fault! Just shut up. . ." She realized what she was saying and stopped. "I'm sorry I got like that. . ."

"Its alright. I needed to realize that," he replied.

The woman sighed. "So realize it already. It. Isn't. Your. Fault. Understand?"

"I understand..." Harlan said.

"Harlan. . ." Shelly muttered, feeling her face turn red even though they weren't face to face. "Sorry. I don't think I can see you anymore. My boss said there would be severe consequences. . . You're lucky you have such an easy-going boss."

Harlan didn't know what to say next. He was very shocked and sad. "Your right though... I barely got away without consequences..."

"Harlan. . . I'm. . . sorry," the admin replied sadly. "My boss is coming. I'll. . ." She couldn't say she would talk to him later, because she probably wouldn't talk to him for real ever again. "Thank you, Harlan. For everything." She quickly hung up and leaned back in her chair, trying to fall asleep. She could hear the faint footsteps of her boss and waited for her 'consequences.'

The Aqua leader burst into the room. "I finally thought up some consequences for you," He told her. "I can't demote or fire you of course, since none of those idiot grunts would be able to handle your job. That's why from now on until you can be trusted again, you will be on probation. Some one will be always watching your every move."

The admin felt a sudden feeling of hatred towards her leader. She imitated him; putting a hand in the air, leaning back even farther, closing her eyes, and holding her head up high. "'None of those idiot grunts can handle your job.' So, Archie, what makes you think they," she smirked, "can watch me? I highly doubt that."

Archie was surprised that his admin actually talked back to him. 'Darn; she got me there.' "Your lucky this time..." he muttered, then he left the room.

"So, no probation?" Shelly called after him. 'It's always fun annoying him. I remember doing it when I was a kid.' "It's not like I care, or anything! I'm just asking!" She frowned. Now who was she supposed to annoy? Her leader was probably ticked off at her.

Harlan didn't know how to feel. His emotions were all mixed up. He felt hatred towards his leader, and felt sad that he and Shelly would probably never see each other again.

Maxie walked in; his head held high. "I have a brilliant plan to stop Team Aqua!"

Harlan's head perked up. "How?"

The man smiled down at his admin. "We make Groudon attack the base. Besides, we have the Blue Orb and Groudon. With them gone, we have absolutely no competition!"

"Hahaha great plan..." Harlan said. 'That's not good at all. What would happen to Shelly?' he thought to himself.

"Yes, ingenious!" he exclaimed. "We're starting now. Would you like to watch? We must be over there in the helicopter to control Groudon."

"Uhh...okay..." Harlan replied. 'Darn! I have to think of some way to stop this and quick.'

"Come on." Maxie grabbed the admin by his hood and dragged him out of the room to where the helicopters were. "And now, the Blue Orb." Another admin, Courtney, bowed respectfully and handed him the Orb; shooting Harlan a worried glance as if to say, 'What's going to happen to your girlfriend?' The leader absorbed the Orb, laughing evilly and hopping into the nearest helicopter.

Harlan decided to follow the Magma leader. He knew this would sound stupid but yelled anyways, "Maxie we should stop this before anyone gets hurt!"

The leader laughed at this. "Impossible! We've gotten this far, Harlan! We're going to continue!"

Archie felt frustrated. "Darn; she's such a smart-aleck..."

"Archie-sama!" Shelly cried; running through the halls of the base. "Boss! It's. . . Team Magma. . . and Groudon. . ." she managed to say before she fell to her knees. "I've been looking all over for you. . . They just arrived."

"Team Magma!" Archie ran to go see the situation.

"W-wait up!" the young admin cried; trying to catch up to her boss. "They've got Groudon! You've got to be careful!"

"What to do?" Archie had to think. He pulled out his cell phone to call his other admins.

"Sir. . ." She finally caught up to him. "What do you want me to do?"

"Hmm...go alert any grunts about this situation and tell them to get ready," Archie commanded.

She raised an eyebrow. "Can't handle my job? What makes you think they can handle this?" She slowly ran off; still tired from running before.

"Darn those Magma's," Archie thought angrily. "I better go get prepared."

"Shelly. . ." Harlan muttered. He wondered if she was going to be all right as he gazed down upon the Team Aqua Base. 'I can't believe Maxie is doing this. If Shelly gets hurt, then. . .' He clenched his fist angrily; trying not to think about what would happen.

Maxie laughed maniacally. "Heh, today's the day we'll finally get rid of those Aqua's," he declared.

"Sir," the admin began, "don't you think this is going a bit too far?"

Maxie smirked. "Not at all, after all we're this far already why quit now."

"I guess. . . you're right. . ." Tears came to his eyes as he thought about Shelly. 'When the helicopter lands, I'll run in without anybody noticing and kidnap her. . . Not really kidnap her, but more like save her. She'll probably try to run away, however. . .'

"See, I'm always right," Maxie boasted. "Heh, we're almost there."

"What will happen to Team Aqua?"

"How will we bring down that Groudon?" Archie asked himself. "It could be impossible without Kyogre."

"S-sir. . ." Shelly managed to say. She fell down in front of him before continuing. "The grunts. . . The grunts. . ."

"What happened?" He asked concerned.

"They. . . Kyogre. . . Orb. . ."

"They, Kyogre, and orb," Archie repeated. "Did they revive Kyogre with the orb?" He asked trying to put all the words together.

"Yes. . . sir. . ."

"I guess we're kind of lucky then," Archie said.

"Yeah. . . Guess. . ." She began panting again. 'I can't run anymore. I'm bushed.'

"I'm going to go monitor the situation," Archie said leaving.

She whimpered; trying to get her boss's attention. 'I can't get up, you fool!'

Archie turned around. "Is something wrong Shelly?"

She whimpered again; indicating that she couldn't move.

"Sure," he replied; grabbing her both her hands and lifting her back on her feet gently.

"Thank you, sir." She turned around and walked away; not daring to look back.

He walked off in the opposite direction. "Now to go see what's happening."

Harlan let out a 'hmpf' of annoyance. His boss was boasting about how brilliant and ingenious his plan to destroy Team Aqua was. 'It doesn't seem so brilliant to me. Shelly could be. . .'

"Finally we're here," Maxie announced. "Wait. . . what's that..."

"K-Kyogre?" the admin gasped. 'Looks like the legendary battle is going to take place here. This is even more dangerous.'

"Darn!" Maxie was enraged. "This was not part of the plan; darn those Aqua's!"

He nodded in agreement. "They don't know what they're getting themselves into, sir."

"I guess plans have changed," Maxie said, calming himself down.

"Yeah. . ." Good thing he's calm now. We wouldn't want him to have another episode. . .

Maxie smirked. 'Maybe this might actually be interesting...'

"Hmm. . ." 'Shelly could be in even more danger now. I'll just sneak out of the helicopter. . .' He glanced over at his boss and raised an eyebrow. "Why are you staring at me?"

"You better not be planning anything stupid," Maxie replied, turning the other way.

"Stupid? Like what, Boss?"

"I don't know," Maxie replied scratching his head. "Just don't do anything stupid; that's all."

"What am I supposed to do?" Harlan asked nervously. 'Maybe he'll tell me I don't have to do anything. I don't want him yelling at me, so why not ask?'

"Neither of us really have to do anything..." Maxie said, "I'm just going to monitor, so you can just find something useful to do."

"I see. . . Sir, yes, sir." When the helicopter landed, he jumped out and ran toward the base. 'Shelly's in there somewhere. I must find her.'

"So Kyogre really was revived," Archie thought to himself.

"Sir!" the young admin yelled. "Sir! Team Magma is here!"

"If they chose to fight with Groudon, then we'll just fight back with Kyogre," Archie declared.

"Sir, what would you like me to do?" she asked; looking around.

"I don't know," Archie replied. "Just find something useful; anything you want!"

Shelly smiled. It wasn't her normal smile. It was an evil, notorious little grin she loved to use. "No, problem, sir." She ran off in search of Harlan.

Harlan ran as fast as he could. A few Aqua grunts had noticed him; he had to knock them out though, just so they would shut up. He looked around the base.

"Harlan!" the admin cried. She knew he was there somehow. She had to find him.

The Magma admin continued to search. "Shelly!"

"Harlan!" she cried yet again. A few Magma grunts had cornered her, and since she was still weak from collapsing earlier, she couldn't fight them back. "Help me! Please!"

Harlan saw some red uniforms. 'What are those guys doing?' He walked up to them casually. All of the grunts were laughing for some apparent reason. Harlan saw why those grunts were there; it was because of Shelly who looked very exhausted. The Magma admin knocked out each of the grunts without saying anything.

"Thank you, Harlan. . ." Shelly replied. She tried to get up, but couldn't.

He already had noticed how tired she looked; so he helped her back on her feet.

She nodded as she leaned against him. "I've been running around all day. I'm so exhausted. And then those fools corner me and harass me. . ."

Harlan smiled at her. "I think I joined a team of idiots..."

"Same here."

Harlan nodded. "We both have to get out of here, or else we could be injured badly; or maybe even die."

The Aqua member nodded again. "I don't want to lose you, Harlan."

Harlan smiled. "I don't want to lose you either. I will protect you."

She smiled. "Thank you."

"Come on we're losing time!" Harlan said. 'Protect that sure means a lot especially when you say it to someone you care about,' he wondered to himself.

"Right!" She tried to run as fast as she could, but slowed the Magma member down.

Harlan knew they had to hurry. He didn't mind that she slowed him down a bit though. He ran close to her making sure nothing bad would happen.

"I'm sorry I'm a bit slow," she apologized. 'I've got to hurry up. . .'

"Don't worry about it," Harlan reassured her.

"H-Harlan!" she screamed.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Harlan asked startled by her scream. He looked back.

"Harlan. . ." Shelly lost consciousness and fell to the ground; blood pouring from her mouth.

Harlan's eyes widened. "What happened?" He asked himself. He fell to his knee's. "Dammit!" He cursed banging his fist on the floor. "I promised to protect her..." He whispered, tears forming near his eyes. 'Get a hold of yourself!' He picked up the unconscious Aqua admin, and continued to run for it.

"Harlan!" Maxie roared from his place on top of Groudon. "What are you doing?"

"I have to help her..." Harlan replied quietly. He didn't feel like making up any excuses.

Maxie turned away angrily. 'That traitor! Oh well. We don't need fools like him.'

Harlan ignored Maxie, and continued to run. 'I'm probably fired after this...'

"Hmm?" Shelly slowly opened her eyes. She was lying down beside a fireplace, which warmed her along with the comfortable blanket on her. "What's going on?" As she sat up, she realized that she was actually on an air mattress, which was comfortable compared to the cold, hard ground she slept on at her house.

"I see your awake," Harlan said. "Luckily you seem to be getting better."

"Getting better? What do you mean?"

"You fell unconscious at the Aqua base. You were out of it for a few days." Harlan smiled, "That's why I'm glad you seem better now...because you scared me..."

"A. . . few. . . days?" the injured woman asked slowly. "And exactly how many days?"

"Not that many, just two or three, I kind of lost track of time," Harlan replied.

"And what were," she coughed, "you doing during those two or three days?"

"I promise I did nothing perverted to you!" Harlan said blushing; waving his hands. "I sort of just moped around in my room," He admitted.

The Aqua member laughed, but couldn't finish because she started coughing. "That must have been boring. Sorry I blacked out like that. What really happened, though? And what time is it?"

"I really don't know, my back was turned then I heard you scream, I turned around and you were unconscious with some blood coming out of your mouth," The Magma admin explained. "The time is..." he checked his watch "4:45 pm."

She looked into the fire sadly; so many things going through her mind. Finally, she spoke up. "I'm. . . sorry."

"You don't need to apologize," Harlan assured her. "Sure, I probably lost my job but that's no big deal."

"Y-you lost your job?! Oh, Harlan, I'm sorry! I'm. . ." The woman continued to stare into the fire.

"Its alright really; I hated that job anyways," he assured her again. "As long as your safe, I'm happy.

"I'm not feeling well."

"Ah, what's wrong?" He asked very concerned.

Shelly turned around and looked at him. Her face was a bit paler than normal. "I think I'm running a fever. Can you check for me?"

"Sure," He replied; running out of the room. He came back holding a thermometer. "Here, put this in your mouth," He instructed her.

"Aw, do you have to take it this way? I hate thermometers." She pouted; a bit annoyed.

"I can't think of any other way," Harlan replied.

"How about. . . you feel my head, and if it's warm, then you can take my temperature?"

"Oh right," Harlan put his hand, on Shelly's forehead. "You feel warm."

She groaned and put the thermometer in her mouth.

Harlan waited patiently. "What does it say?" He asked.

"I don't know!" the woman yelled; obviously cranky from waking up. "Here. . ." She handed him the thermometer.

"Um..." Harlan read the thermometer, "39'C."

Shelly shivered. "It's cold in here. . ."

"Here I'll go get another blanket," Harlan volunteered; running out of the room. He came back carrying a blanket. "Here."

"Thanks. . ." The young woman put the blanket over herself and closed her eyes. "I can't sleep. . ."

"Why not?" Harlan asked. "If its because I'm bugging you, I'll leave if you want..."

"No!" she accidentally shouted. "Keep me company. I don't want to be lonely. . ."

"Okay, I was just making sure." Harlan smiled.

"So. . . you live alone?" She gave up trying to go to sleep and sat up.

"Yeah..." he replied.

"Don't you miss your family?"

"Family?" He shook his head. "My mother died when I was very young. My father was very busy all the time and so never really payed much attention to me..."

"Lucky. . ." she muttered.

"What happened to your family?" Harlan asked.

"You knew your father. I didn't. I just grew up with my mother and nobody else. But when I was a kid, she. . ."

"What did she do?" Harlan asked very concerned.

Shelly shook her head. "I have no family left. But you're lucky. At least you have your father, even if he doesn't pay much attention to you."

"Sorry," He apologized.

"What did happen to your father?" she asked. 'All he said was he didn't pay attention to him.'

"Nothing happened to him..." Harlan said, "We talk once in while but the conversations feel awkward, that's all." He smiled.

"So. . . You must be lonely here. There's probably nothing to do. . ."

"True, it can be boring..." Harlan replied.

"Don't you have anything fun to do around here?"

"Well I do have a television and few game systems, for when I'm really bored."

"Game systems?" She was suddenly feeling a lot better than before. "What game systems?"

"I have a Nintendo Wii and a old N64..." Harlan replied.

"Nintendo Wii?!" the young woman exclaimed. "Wow, I've never played with that before!"

"If you want I'll hook it up so we can play," Harlan offered.

Her stomach growled. "Um. . ."

"Is something wrong?" Harlan asked.

"My stomach's growling. . . and I feel sick to it."

"Is it hunger?" Harlan asked, "Or could it be something else?"

"Probably hunger." She looked around. "Do you have anything to eat?"

"Yeah, in the kitchen of course," Harlan replied.

Shelly followed him into the kitchen. Looking around, she said, "Wow. It's bigger than mine."

Harlan laughed. "Go ahead, you can look inside the cupboards and fridge, I don't mind."

"No. . . it's alright. I wasn't brought up that way. I wouldn't want to do that." She walked out. "Be sure to make me something nice!"

'Darn. . . I'm not much of a cook...' Harlan decided to have a quick look at some recipe books. "I guess I'll just have to go with something simple," he muttered to himself. After about half an hour he came out of the kitchen carrying two bowls of soup.

The Aqua admin had fallen asleep on the air mattress. Her breathing was a bit faster than normal, but she was fine. She seemed to be muttering something.

'Oh she's asleep...' Harlan put the soup on a nearby counter. "What is she muttering?" He asked himself.

"Har. . . Harlan. . . Help me. . ."

Harlan heard clearly what she said. He shook her to wake her up.

"Huh?" She opened her eyes and immediately jumped up and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Harlan. .. "

Harlan blushed a bit. "I'm sorry for waking you," He apologized. "Did you have a bad nightmare?"

"Yeah. . . I really don't want to talk about it. . ." She noticed the soup on the counter, grabbed the spoon, and began to stuff it in her mouth. She was extremely hungry.

"Alright, I understand," Harlan said. He grabbed his bowl of soup and started to eat.

"Your house. . . is much bigger. . . than mine. . ." she said between spoonfuls

"Well, my father is quite rich considering how busy he is," Harlan explained, "He used to send me a lot of money once every few months."

"Lucky. . . And. . . done." The young woman dropped the shiny spoon into the empty bowl. "Delicious. I wish I could afford food like that."

"You don't get a lot of pay even if your are an admin, do you now?" Harlan asked sadly.

Shelly smiled sadly. "No, I don't get paid a lot, even though I put my life in danger everyday. I'm just loyal to Archie. . ."

"I admire you..." Harlan admitted, "Your loyal to him, no matter what happens. As for me on the other hand..."

"Well. . . you see, Archie is the only one who has shown me any respect. That's why I always respect him and am loyal to him. . . And Harlan, I can understand your case." She began coughing violently.

"Ah." Harlan began patting her back, trying to ease the coughing.

"Thanks. . ." Shelly said after she began to calm down. She was still coughing, but it wasn't as bad.

"Your welcome," He replied. "Are you still tired?" He asked concerned.

"Y-yeah. . ." she replied after she finished coughing. "I guess that nap didn't help. . ."

Harlan yawned. "I feel a bit tired too." He checked his watch. The watch read 8:00 pm. "Whoa. Where did the time go?" he said; surprised.

"I'm feeling worse than before. . ."

Harlan felt her forehead again. "You do feel warmer..." He said.

"Ow. . . Mph!" She fell over on her side; coughing like crazy.

Harlan panicked. He started patting her back again. "Do you need some cough medicine?" He asked concerned.

"Help. . . me. . ." she said between coughs.

Harlan took that as a yes. He quickly ran off to the kitchen to find some medicine. He came back holding a spoon and a small bottle. He carefully poured the purple liquid into the spoon. "Try and open your mouth," he instructed.

She tried to stop coughing long enough to drink the liquid. It worked immediately, and she stopped coughing. "Thank you. . . I'm sorry I'm causing you so much trouble. . ." She was breathing faster than normal and was feeling a bit lightheaded.

"Its no problem, really." Harlan smiled.

"I thought. . . I would have to go to the. . . hospital or something. . . but I knew. . . you. . ."

"If I took you to the hospital...I knew we both arrested...considering what we are..." Harlan said sadly. He smiled. 'I'm usually not that great at taking care of people, I think I'm doing pretty good though.'

"Harlan. . ." Shelly closed her eyes as her breathing grew more rapid.

He looked over in her direction. "Yeah..."

"Help. . ." The woman's breathing grew faster and faster.

He shook her awake again. "Does she have nightmares every time she falls asleep?" he asked himself.

"Harlan. . . Harlan. . . Help me. . ."

Harlan panicked. He didn't know what to do. "Harlan?" Shelly was staring up at him; tears in her eyes. "What happened?"

He felt calmer now. "I don't know..." He put his arms around her.

The young woman smiled. "You're nice and warm. It's frigid in here."

He smiled back at her. "Thanks, if your that cold I could turn up the thermostat to the furnace."

"Sure. . ."

"Alright." He ran off; turned the furnace on. "There that should be better."

"Yeah. . . Harlan, why do you care about me so much? We're in rival organizations."

He thought for a few minutes. "I never thought of us as rivals...not at all...I actually am quite tolerant also. I don't mind if people have different beliefs or ideas...or maybe its because..."

"Because. . . ?"

"Maybe its because I..." Harlan stuttered the next few words, "L-love y-you."

Shelly raised an eyebrow. "You. . . love. . . me? Of all people? What's there to like about me?"

"Well your beautiful," Harlan started, "your personality is quite interesting also."

Tears came to the young woman's eyes. "R-really? Harlan I. . . l-l. . ."

Harlan smiled; patiently waiting for her to finish her sentence.

"Love you, too."

Harlan put his arms around her; embracing her.

She smiled. "Thank you, Harlan."

He smiled back at her.

Shelly looked up at him. "Thank you for letting me stay here."

"It was no problem, really," Harlan replied. He had tears streaming from his eyes. Of course they weren't tears of sadness, they were tears of happiness.

She wiped the tears from his face. "Stop. . . You're making me cry. . ." A tear escaped her eye as she gently kissed his cheek.


End file.
